A1 Contractors Est 1987

We had some grade lowering to do on the side of our house, and had quite a bit of dirt to move. Over the phone, Tom quoted me and said he could come the next day. He came by at around 1pm and brought his unique slim-fit bobcat. He talked about all the possible options we had for landscaping (Tom will talk FOREVER if you let him), and I thought he understood the scope of work I had for him (since we discussed it for an hour), and then he finally got to work. He worked for 1.5hrs on the bobcat (including a break for Tim's that I brought him), and then he talked and talked some more.
Then he left at 4pm to get another piece of equipment. When he came back he told me that our bill had already been racked up to almost twice what he had originally quoted me!! Whaaat? The job wasn't even close to done, it was 6pm, and he still had another several hours of work to do!

Never once before he starting working did he discuss an increase in cost we agreed upon the previous day.

I was really upset with this news. But Tom indicated that all his ideas and talking (so much talking) were "design" hours and that his time was worth it. HA! I already knew what I wanted. And it was really simple. He just kept throwing around more ideas, and charging me $110/hr for chatter. Oh, and he also charged a $250 equipment fee for loading and unloading - another thing he didn't discuss with me until 6pm.

But, I am a sucker, and continued to bank roll him, just cause I wanted to get the job done.

Tom worked the next morning as well to 'finish the job', but he didn't remove even half the dirt that I asked him to. I had to get another bobcat and truck to come back and finish the work that Tom did not. The next bobcat company I used was much better. Way more efficient, honest, hard working, and professional.
I would not recommend Tom to anyone.